Trail Blazing Horticulturists To Showcase Their Very Own Edible Beds

6th April 2017

Trail blazing horticulturists from across the country are heading to RHS Malvern Spring Festival to showcase their very own edible beds at one of the show’s exciting new features this year, the Grow Zone.

The Grow Zone is a horticultural experience taking inspiration from an interactive countryside and wildlife garden designed by RHS Gold Medal winner, Jon Wheatley. Bound to stimulate your sight and senses, amble through the garden and browse the fruit and vegetables, and don’t be surprised by the bees and wildlife that you’ll meet on the way.

Said Jon: “The RHS Malvern Spring Festival has always been the place to be if you are a hands on gardener. The Grow Zone promotes healthy, happy, horticulture and gives examples of how to grow and what to grow to make a difference to your garden as well as your lifestyle.”

The Edible Beds area has been curated by RHS medal winner and RHS Malvern Spring Festival Ambassador, Hannah Genders. It is a collection of raised beds, planted with edible produce around a central seating space and seeks to demonstrate the ease of growing your own. Each bed tells a story of the different organisations creating them, including:

Incredible Edibles Bristol - The Urban Food Growing project that is planting up any spare piece of land to grow food for the local community. This will show what food can be grown with very little watering.

Grown not Flown - Celebrating the UK grown flowers market with a bed of Edible flowers for cutting.

Community Orchard, Redditch - Representing orchards all over the UK, sharing the fruit they grow.

The Farming Sisters - Sisters Amy and Sophie have returned to run their family farm in Warwickshire and are setting it up as a forest school farm, to teach children where their food comes from.

Garden Organic - Showcasing a bed of lettuces all heirloom varieties from the Heritage Seed Library.

Rush Farm Biodynamic - A community owned biodynamic farm with a real vision for the future of farming and growing food.

Care Farming - This is a raised bed, planted up to show an organic project in Worcestershire that is working with adults with mental health issues and learning difficulties to grow food, which they sell into local cafes, markets and shops.

Head of RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Jane Furze said: “We’re really excited to be launching the Grow Zone this year. It is THE place to go if you want to pick up some terrific gardening tips but also to enjoy what promises to be a great family day out. With features like the Edible Beds, the Grow Zone is a fantastic opportunity for adults and children alike to learn how easy and satisfying it can be to grow food. All levels of expertise are welcome, come along and see for yourself.”

The Grow Zone promises to attract the crowds with a host of other exciting features including a Grow Tipi, where leading figures in the gardening world such as Carol Klein, Jekka McVicar and Incredible Edible Bristol’s Sara Venn, will be on hand for Q&A session.

Over at the Ceramic Flower Meadow lies the winner of RHS’s Britain in Bloom Award - an eye-catching garden of 1,200 handmade ceramic flowers created by Creative Arts in conjunction with Creative Black Country. Here you’ll have the opportunity to purchase a piece of the meadow, see bees at work in the Bee Marquee and sample honey whilst you try and spot the queen.

Elsewhere, award-winning designer, Paul Hervey-Brookes, will be hosting a new competition, the Paul Hervey-Brookes Growing Challenge. New comers and enthusiasts are invited to showcase homegrown specimens for the chance to win some fab prizes. No experience is needed, just a bunch of enthusiasm and imagination.

RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017 will take place from Thursday 11 May until Sunday 14 May. Adult tickets start from £18 in advance while children (under 16) are free of charge. For more information and to book tickets, please call 01684 584924 or visit www.rhsmalvern.co.uk